HARARE - More than 100 Zambezi Watercourse stakeholders from various sectors gathered in Harare from 1 to 2 October 2024 as part of development of the Nature, People and Climate (NPC) Investment Plan (IP) for the Zambezi Region. Among the stakeholders, were representatives of the eight countries that share the Zambezi Watercourse, Multi-lateral Development Banks (MDBs), civil society representatives, academia and private sector.
ZAMCOM has received financing from the Climate Investment Fund (CIF), Nature, People and Climate (NPC) Program for preparation of the Zambezi Region Investment Plan (IP). The NPC Programme aims to address the multiple drivers and impacts of climate change, resulting from human activities on land resources and ecosystem services in an integrated manner.
The IP will deploy nature-based solutions that recognize the inter-dependences among land use, climate-change mitigation and adaptation, and improvement of livelihoods of rural communities. The Regional IP will guide development and management of the Zambezi Watercourse in a coordinated and sustainable manner to prevent future conflicts. It will identify potential priority areas for investments that align with strategic regional priorities and country level needs.
The regional workshop was part of stakeholder consultations that have taken place in the development of the Investment Plan at both national and regional levels over the past three months with the help of a consulting firm, CERFODES who were engaged to develop the IP.
The objectives of the second regional workshop combined with the MDBs Joint Mission, held from 30 September to 4 October were to bring together stakeholders to review and validate the draft NPC Zambezi Region Investment Plan; and to ensure the Nature-Based Solution (NbS) projects are packaged into the IP based on the challenges and gaps identified during the diagnostic studies.
The MDBs represented include the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Climate Investment Fund (CIF).
The Investment Plan is being funded by the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) through the African Development Bank (AfDB) with technical and other financial support from strategic partner organisations including the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (GM-UNCCD) and the Commonwealth Secretariat.